UPPHENGNINGAR AV KRAFTOVERFORINGSMEKANISMER I FRAMHJULSDRIVNA FORDON

摘要

In a front-wheel-drive vehicle having a powertrain with a transversely positioned engine and transmission and independent front-wheel suspensions each with a control arm, there is provided a cradle to which the drive-wheel suspension control arms are swingably mounted. A plurality of cushion mounts support the cradle at high impedance points on the vehicle body and provide a soft substantially linear spring rate at small vibratory amplitudes of the cradle in both a fore and aft direction and a vertical direction relative to the vehicle and a stiff substantially linear spring rate at all vibratory amplitudes of the cradle in a lateral direction relative to the vehicle. The powertrain is directly supported on the cradle by a plurality of cushion mounts which have soft substantially linear spring rates in the same directions as the cradle mounts. In addition, both the fore and aft rate and vertical rate of the cradle mounts and also the pitch rate of the powertrain mounts are controlled so as to be non-linear at large amplitudes of the cradle and powertrain in the respective directions. Furthermore, a rigid strut is cushion mounted between the powertrain and a mounting point on the vehicle so as to be in either tension or compression depending on whether the transmission is in forward or reverse drive. The strut mounts provide a soft substantially linear rate at small-amplitude powertrain pitch motions occurring at low powertrain torque and provide a non-linear rate at large-amplitude pitching motions occurring at high torque and cooperate with both the cradle mounts and the powertrain mounts to control and isolate pitching motions of the powertrain.